What makes a Good Diet?

[~ Z ~]

There are many people struggling to lose weight and sometimes, exercising is not enough. You need to go on a good diet for weight-loss. What would you recommend these people do to improve their diet? Here are the following things below to help you advise your followed users of what they can do to have a good and balanced diet. You can add in your own ideas of what makes a good diet.

• How many times a day should the person eat?
• What should be eaten? How often?
• What should be avoided? Why?
• What are some personal remedies you recommend?

You can add any personal weight loss stories you would like to share that could offer some encouragement for people to lose weight (or gain weight)? If you are a person who wants to lose weight or at least has a better diet, feel free to post and ask members for some advice and try it out! We are all here to help and support you!

 

[Ashiros]

Not many know but I had zero confidence growing up. It didn't help that I would ask girls out and get the "ew" treatment. I was overweight and it stayed that way until the summer after 10th grade where I decided to do something about it.

My key to losing that weight is that I never went on a diet. I'm not saying that a person shouldn't. I just found solace in being able to eat what I wanted but in smaller portions. I was also pretty serious with the workouts. I worked out 5 days a week for 30 minutes on each of those days. Now, workouts can often feel like chores. In my case, my workouts always centered around something I was obsessed with at the moment. Whether it be a song or a girl, it was both in my case. That helped take my mind off the actual workout and I was able to breeze through the 30 minutes everyday. By 12th grade, I had shed over 100 pounds and I never looked back.

My advice for a good diet: Stuff that you enjoy but in smaller portions. And if it's hard to eat smaller portions, drink something before you eat. You'll fill up quicker.

My advice for losing weight: Stay committed to your work outs. 30 minutes is honestly all you need. Use music to zone out or something else to take your mind off the work out.

 

[LoopyPanda]

I'm too lazy/unmotivated to do sit ups anymore like I used to back in 11th and 12th grade. But I did do squats. Best decision ever. B)

Though I haven't been exercising much besides walking in a while so I just do it by diet. 

I have a bad habit of overeating my favorite kinds of food, so I just pick purposely smaller plates to trick myself into eating less. I also have been cutting salt and starchy foods along with white bread from my diet, limiting them to eat every once in a while. I ate potato soup frequently the last two months but I ended up with water retention and a puffy face. I also don't drink as much water as I should be so that didn't help matters. It also helps to chew your food properly. Not like a few chomps and just wolf it down, but chewing it to a soft consistency helps with digestion and speeds up that process. 

But portions tends to help a lot and if I keep myself from over eating, I can go to sleep faster.

 

[Vegetto]

I actually am a bit of a health and running coach during my free time. I operate through the company Herbalife, and have come away with combining some practices with my own running knowledge when it comes to mindset and motivation:

The big key to it all is always consistency. But just as a long distance runner doesn't hurt every single mile of a marathon, you should not kill your mental strength each day to achieve a weight loss goal. If it hurts to a level that you can't think positively after a weeks worth of training, then you could be doing it in a much more efficient way.

Take for example, cardio. Many people believe it is the best exercise to kill fat. Which, being a long distance runner myself, I can say that it is. Cardio burns more calories and fat in hour plus long exercises than any other workout plan you can think of.

However, while it may be the most effective, it actually is not the most efficient. Running and cardio development takes time, a process that you can not faulter on the first few stages or you lose all of the benefit you gained (Running is a snowball effect type of sport). It takes months for people to make it into the position they want to be in for the workouts they need to do before they can even shred the weight they want to.

The alternative I've seen in practice are workouts designed to build muscle. The body recovers based on the nutrition you put in your body, where "bad food" will usually just be food that lacks in substances needed to grow muscle, while also containing high fat. Working out burns some calories, but pounds of fat don't get shredded by the amount of work you do in the gym. Workouts destroy and weaken your muscle: nutrition rebuilds them with the substance you put in your body.

So if you eat foods like McDonald's or other junk items, your body won't recover from workouts very well because most of the substance in fast foods/junk foods is either fat or sugars. You need protien, healthy carbs, vitamins, phytonutrients, etc. to build muscle. This sort of poor nutrition then makes it worse: you destroyed your mind and body, then put poor nutrition to rebuild it. The metaphor I like to compare it to is when you pull all nighters, then sleep for two hours trying to wake up early. You'd have been better off had you not slept at all, just like you would be better off not working out if you don't plan to eat something with good nutritional value in it afterwards.

And once you build muscle, your body burns more fat in utilizing that muscle through your daily routine. By having a stronger body, you end up shredding pounds of fat because your muscles have to draw more from your fat stores just to do everyday tasks. You don't have to be body builder size either: a simple rise in muscle mass for every portion of your body is going to make an impact. You'll have a body that burns more calories if you target every muscle group rather than making one massive. This can also be further expanded on: work out early! Morning workouts kickstart your metabolism, basically "waking up your body". Having your body turned on for more hours of the day = more calories burned than any single workout.

So basic sum up is simple:

-Working out should always have the purpose of building muscle, never burning fat. Knowing that the fat will burn from building stronger muscles makes mentally committing in the long run much easier.
-Proper nutrition is the key to gaining muscle. Workouts only destroy your muscles and teach your body to build them up; what you eat determines if the job the workout teaches your body gets done or not.
-Bigger muscles = more fat shredded. Why try to focus on killing more than 300 calories in a single workout, when you can go from burning a 1,000 calories to 2,000 by having to use bigger muscles to move around? 
-You don't need to be massive: it's more efficient to build every muscle slightly than to build a few of them massively. If you slack on one muscle group, then work it out: it'll give you something to do everyday and it'll make things a variety.

And lastly put, eating bad is honestly better than not eating at all. You should consume at least 200-300 calories of something before and after you workout, regardless of what it is. As much as unhealthy foods are terrible for you, you need something to build muscle from and unhealthy foods have some nutrition to them. Very poor nutrition is still better than no nutrition at all.

 

[anzu2snow]

Well, I've lost a lot of weight in the last few years. I had gained a lot in college, and have lost most, if not all, of it. Over 100 pounds. (Lost close to 5 pant sizes.) Still losing weight, but it might be coming off of me faster the last several months. Considering I was diagnosed with a digestive 'disease' recently. Things have changed a bit more diet wise, because I apparently have a hard time absorbing certain nutrients now. I still probably should talk to a nutritionist that knows about people like me. I'm going to ask my gastroenterologist about a referral for one tomorrow when I see her.

Anyways, what's helped me in the past is mainly keeping track of how many calories I have during the day. The range I've set myself for the day is 1200 to 1600 calories. I occasionally allow a 'splurge' day where I might have 1800. But, it's not on a regular basis. I will not go below 1200, despite my health issue currently making me feel like not eating. I divide those calories into 5 small meals. I never feel hungry during the day this way. Usually only when I get up in the morning, which is normal.

This way I can have pretty much whatever I want, just smaller portions of it. I think of it as savoring it for longer. I typically can make about 3 meals out of what I get at restaurants. Sometimes I can make 5 meals from them. The only problem with this is planning out eating the leftovers before they go bad. Also, if it's something like ice cream, I only have a little bit and toss the rest out. It's sad, but it doesn't keep well.

Also, my gastro found out that one of the nutrients I might not be absorbing well is protein. (Weird stuff happening with my hair and nails was a sign.) So, she suggested I have more protein with each meal. I'm also trying to be more balanced with fruit and vegetables. Some people who have malabsorption problems might need more calories than the average person. I don't want that, though. -_-

I've cut out sodas from my diet, too. I mostly drink either tea or water. There are so many different types of tea, I don't miss the soda.

I also do sit-ups and 2-mile walks. Sometimes I add 5 more to the sit-ups. Ended up getting to 95 of them each time at one point, but I don't think that was good for me. I do those twice a day. Or, at least, I try to. Hard lately with this digestive issue...Mainly because of motivation, and how drained it makes me feel. Normally, I do 2 2-mile walks a day. I would love to get back to that on a regular basis, and then add a 3rd walk to it. I think the walks have been a big help, too.

 

[ShineCero]

This is a good thread for someone like me. I'm underweight (5'7 - 111 Ibs) and don't consume enough calories everyday. I was looking to see if there was some kind of products that enable to consume everyday to managed your calories intake.

 

[~ Z ~]

I know now (Thanks to my dad's recent Heart attack) that salt plays a huge role in your body. Keep away from salty foods or don't make a habit of eating them everyday. Chicken breasts, salmon, and tilapia are good sources of low-sodium foods that can help drop your cholesterol. After the incident with my dad, I've become more aware of what I eat so I don't end up like him. Eating lots of veggies and fruits daily are a huge help and I can honestly say that my dad has never looked better. 

Whole Wheat is also very healthy for you. Keep a look out for organic food, even if it is a little bit more pricey. It's worth it in the long run if you want to be healthy. However, you cannot exclude sodium entirely from your body. My dad CAN eat salt but it's just very low amounts of it. It's tough to get used to since the entire family has to change their diet but I think it's worth it. Your body needs salts and sugars but too much and too little can be very bad for you.

 

[LoopyPanda]

This is a good thread for someone like me. I'm underweight (5'7 - 111 Ibs) and don't consume enough calories everyday. I was looking to see if there was some kind of products that enable to consume everyday to managed your calories intake.

I lost almost 10 pounds by accident before lol

I always think to eat foods that go with the metabolism you have. Or, slow it down (which is fairly hard for me given my medications purposely spike mine lol), since it's rather counterintuitive to consume low cal snacks you know your body can burn through in the span of an hour :lmao:

For me, part of getting back my weight (I don't think I ever went back up to 105 after going to 99 pounds.. stayed at 102-103 the last couple months) was going back to 3 meals a day (or, take something like applesauce or a granola bar with me to class) for a while. Or at least attempt to have brunch on weekends.

It took me a while, but I ate whole wheat pasta and bread a lot. I read somewhere at the time that since it keeps you fuller longer, it essentially slows your metabolism for a while. Just keep an eye on those carbs, tho. But the big ticket is to go for calorie-rich food (but go easy on empty-calorie type sugar foods).

I'd suggest peanut butter, but that would kill you, so... Try a banana a day instead. XD

My life is essentially sedentary since I only walk at school. So consult someone else if you want some muscle gainz
 

 

[JamesYTP]

Well, I just shed about 30 pounds over the summer by simply limiting my calorie intake. A man on a diet whose trying to lose weight should consume about 1200-1600 calories, I think for women it's a little less (I think I remember reading women can safely go as low as 1000, if it's the same range it's 1,000-1,400 but I'm not sure). If weight loss is your goal you can probably do a lot by simply reading the nutrition facts (in America those are on the packages of most foods you buy), following the "serving sizes" and measuring your portions accordingly and counting your daily calories so you stay within that 1200-1600 range. You'll lose about 2 or 3 pounds a week like that. You'll want to be careful about losing more than that because sometimes your body will also burn off your muscle mass to gain energy when it's a lot at once.

As far as gaining weight goes, well that's both easy and hard. The human body will actually store almost any substance it can't metabolize as fat and will store others like carbohydrates, calories and natural sugars that you consume in excess. About 2,000 is standard maintenance but in some cases if you're underweight that'll get you a couple extra pounds, maybe 2200 or 2400 would be ideal. 

As for standard diets, as I said 2,000 calories maintains weight, you'll want to try to get your nutrients too (those are on nutrition facts as well) and follow the food pyramid if possible. 

It's easy to google reliable diet information.

 

[~ Z ~]

Well, I just shed about 30 pounds over the summer by simply limiting my calorie intake. A man on a diet whose trying to lose weight should consume about 1200-1600 calories, I think for women it's a little less (I think I remember reading women can safely go as low as 1000, if it's the same range it's 1,000-1,400 but I'm not sure). If weight loss is your goal you can probably do a lot by simply reading the nutrition facts (in America those are on the packages of most foods you buy), following the "serving sizes" and measuring your portions accordingly and counting your daily calories so you stay within that 1200-1600 range. You'll lose about 2 or 3 pounds a week like that. You'll want to be careful about losing more than that because sometimes your body will also burn off your muscle mass to gain energy when it's a lot at once.

As far as gaining weight goes, well that's both easy and hard. The human body will actually store almost any substance it can't metabolize as fat and will store others like carbohydrates, calories and natural sugars that you consume in excess. About 2,000 is standard maintenance but in some cases if you're underweight that'll get you a couple extra pounds, maybe 2200 or 2400 would be ideal. 

As for standard diets, as I said 2,000 calories maintains weight, you'll want to try to get your nutrients too (those are on nutrition facts as well) and follow the food pyramid if possible. 

It's easy to google reliable diet information.

I agree with this. I've been watching what I ate (No more junk food and more veggies and fruits) and I've noticed that I've lost about 3-4 pounds in a week. I'm pretty proud of myself but I think I can lose more faster if I exercise a bit. I have also been eating a lot of soup with tons of veggies. For desert, I usually eat Honey Nut Cheerios or regular corn flakes. Very rarely do I eat some of the apple pie but if I do, I get a much smaller piece than usual and mostly stuff my face with grapes.